Fig, Coconut & Blackberry Ice Cream

Are we the only ones fantasizing about crazy ice cream combinations with only natural ingredients? We know that there is a whole world of healthier ice cream recipes out there just waiting to be revealed, and with our brand new ice cream maker (thank you uncle Sven, we love it!) we are going to start exploring it. This was actually our first try with the machine and we stumbled upon an interesting combo right away.

Have you tasted fig ice cream before? You probably have. We actually hadn’t tried it, but considering our love for this sweet and juicy fruit we imagined it would make a buon gelato. We used coconut milk instead of cow milk or cream, which was one of the ideas that we have fantasized about. It was exactly as good as we imagined it, and since we made it without eggs it is also vegan!

This is somewhat of an ice cream for grown ups (even though we hate that expression). The flavors are pretty fruity and complex, not at all like a standard sugar and cream recipe. Make sure to use ripe figs (preferably mission figs), they taste sweeter.

Have you got any favorite ice cream recipes of your own, without heaps of sugar? Leave a comment, we would love to know what it is.

Fig, Coconut & Blackberry Ice CreamMakes around 4 cups (1 liter)

This recipe is not super sweet, that is how we like it. Taste it while it cooks and add more honey if you prefer.

Start by removing the ends from the figs. Cut each fig into 8 pieces. Put them in a saucepan, add water, lemon zest, coconut flakes and ginger. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes until the figs are tender. Add honey and around 10 blackberries. Continue to cook for about 15-20 minutes (you might want to lower the heat a bit) until it reaches a jam-like consistency. When it’s done, remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. Use an immersion blender or food processor to quickly mix it together with the coconut milk and lemon juice. Don’t mix too hard, it’s nice with some fruit pieces here and there. Chill well in the fridge (otherwise you will have yourself a fig milkshake, we have tried that…) before you put the mixture in an ice cream maker for about 25 minutes or however long your brand of ice cream machine suggests. Serve with fresh blackberries and a few leaves of fresh lemon balm.

heyy Luise, David …
This looks and sounds luxurious! I myself LOVE fresh figs and can never get bored with them! So, I really AM doing this recipe! Thank you for the inspiration and the wonderful post!

Fabulous ice cream, I absolutely love the recipe because I adore figs, especially those dried, figs are such a great and healthy replacement for sugar. Well, I did my ice cream today also, and was thrilled because in my favourite shop with healthy food they got recently raw cocoa beans, so I bought them & made vanilla ice-cream with it. Thank you for inspiration :)

That looks delicious! I love the color. Once I made a coconut milk- and cashew-based ice cream with sweet basil and vanilla bean, sweetened with agave nectar, and served with balsamic-marinated strawberries. It was the best ice cream I ever, ever ate.

Sounds exactly like my kind of ice cream! I love my ice cream maker and have experimented with tons of fruit, low sugar, and almost always dairy-free recipes (for my tummy’s sake:) I once made mint chocolate chip using only dates as the sweetener; you must try using dates!

I’m all for the fig and coconut combination. And, I have to say, a fig milkshake doesn’t sound too terrible either, though there is something about this ice cream that especially screams end of summer. I’m getting my spoon ready. :)

I never in a million years would have thought to combine figs, blackberries and coconut in an ice cream! I tried my first fig the weekend before last and have been disappointed that I can’t find any around here.

I would love to do more experimenting with natural liquid sweeteners like honey, agave and maple syrup in ice cream but making ice cream is so time consuming. So far I’ve made a couple of recipes that call for 3/4 cup raw sugar, which is more than I’d like, but sure makes tasty ice cream! Here’s my recipe for fresh mint ice cream if you’d like to take a look: http://cookieandkate.com/2011/light-mint-ice-cream-recipe/

Oh how amazingly beautiful! Lo-oove the figs<3
My favorite right now is my Raw Sea-buckthorn ice cream with lots of cardamom and a hint of honey & nutmeg. It flirts a bit with fall but still has the sense of summer!

This looks beautiful, so rustic and delicious. I didn’t think you could actually make an ice cream with fig, blackberry and coconut. Such an original combination. Plus the figs look amazing, such a vibrant purple!
Thanks for the recipe! =D

Looks amazing! Will try. What kind of ice cream maker do you use? Mine is a crappy budget version which doesn’t really have the power to blend the ice cream mixture. Must buy myself a new one with a powerful motor.

I love figs, I can very well imagine combining them with coconut. From my side, I very much enjoy basil ice cream, just a very basic recipe with not many more ingredients than basil, but with a very strong focused taste – delicious, to combine with sweet and non-sweet food.

Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe! As we are about to enjoy the warm summer months here in Sydney, this ice cream will be a perfect treat! I adore fresh figs and can’t wait for them to be back in season :-) Big hugs to all three of you! xx

Delicious, I am a big blackberry and coconut-fan! I haven´t really written down my ice cream creations, but I once made a cinnamon-spiced coconut-soy ice cream: Boil fresh or candied ginger in soy-milk, add cinnamon, maybe anise and cardamon as well. Add coconut milk (you don´t have to use soy milk at all, if you like the coconut milk taste a lot), some dried (the juicy, fresher ones) dates. Sweeten with more honey if you like.
Great with Apple Crumble!

when is the world going to catch on the fact that agave nectar is extremely unhealthy for one? as a matter of fact it is worse (slightly) than HFCS. Vegans use stevia instead …it’s natural, alkalizing, no calories and safe with diabetes.

wow that’s interesting, i rarely use agave but i typically steer clear of foods im not educated properly on.. i’ve heard these claims before and wasn’t sure between agave and stevia.. i’d lean more to stevia especially if it alkalizing.. do you have any links.? to help me learn more.? i understood agave was obviously from an agave plant but i thought it wasn’t processed say like refined white/brown sugars.?

Sorry for the late response. I am a wellness practitioner specializing in holistic nutrition and I am always educating myself about food :). The truth about agave is about 10 years old now, so this knowledge has been out there but unfortunately just as with all sweeteners it is promoted even by health food stores. Here are some articles, but there are many many more!

The good thing about stevia is that it is zero calories, it is not artificial but a natural sweetener, alkalizing to the body AND safe for diabetics because it doesn’t process as sugars so insulin is not involved. The taste is slightly different but you can get used to it fast. If you want to be updated about health infos please visit my FB page http://www.facebook.com/szawellness

hi, this recipe looks amazing, however i have 500g fresh strawberries i have to use up as they are a little over ripe. Do you have any suggestions for altering this recipe so i can use the strawberries, maybe coconut or almond milk? I’m not lactose or gluten intolerant, just looking for healthy alternatives :)
Its getting warmer here in Australia an i can’t wait to get my ice cream maker out!

Thanks so much for this recipe! We made this over the weekend and we loved it. We used agave and a can of coconut cream – we realized we got the wrong thing but the texture and flavor ended up being great! My cat was sad she couldn’t try any of it :)

Hate to break it to you, but figs aren’t vegan. They aren’t even vegetarian. Wasps pollinate figs, often getting stuck inside them. And in order to make the fig edible, it needs to have a dead female wasp stuck inside. But as the female wasp dies inside, an enzyme from the fruit breaks down the body into protein.